The Digicel Cup final pits the two best young teams in the Premier League together in what is sure to be a superb exhibition of football.
League leaders Elite square up to Bodden Town and the game at the TE Mc Field Annex will be a fitting showpiece of two well drilled sides brimming with talent, some of whom are hoping for pro contracts abroad or at least scholarships to universities in the US.
Elite start as marginal favourites as they have won the Premier League twice in the last three seasons and knocked Scholars International out in the semis, albeit on penalties after a 2-2 draw over two legs.
Bodden Town coasted past Roma United in their semi-final, winning both legs comfortably. Yefry Calderon may be a defender but he is Bodden Town’s top scorer. Elite will have their markers firmly focused on him, as well as ace striker Theron Wood who makes his final appearance for Bodden Town for a while before returning to semi-pro side Forest Green in south London, England to join Luigi Hernandez.
Elite’s chief goal getter early in the season was Dwayne ‘Gaza’ Wright who scored three hat-tricks in the first few weeks. The goals have dried up recently for Gaza, partly because he was injured, but he is still a menace to opposition defences and his tally of 14 remains way clear of anyone else.
Alex Belcher is another Elite danger man and so too are fellow midfielders Jairo Sanchez and Rene Carter who are particularly dangerous on set pieces.
Kick-off is at 7pm on Ash Wednesday and Elite will shudder at the thought of the FA Cup final three years ago when against a young Bodden Town side that they took for granted, were unexpectedly beaten. Elite had already wrapped up the league title and Digicel Cup and grabbing the FA Cup appeared a mere formality. It didn’t work out. Under coach Greg Ebanks, history looks unlikely to repeat itself this time although Bodden Town have improved considerably since then. Elite want to win all three trophies this season, as indeed do Bodden Town who are only three points behind them in the league.
Elite were captained by Abijah Rivers then and he is still at the helm for the West Bay side. Elite do not have the same depth in their squad as Scholars but seem to have a better temperament under pressure and have the added psychological advantage of beating them twice already this season in the league. Whoever wins, they may well set the tone for the reason of the campaign. There are seven games left in the league which means everyone still has to play each other. If Bodden Town triumph, it could give them the impetus to overhaul Elite and Scholars and maybe grab the FA Cup too.
Bodden Town have some brilliant youngsters in Arvid Harris, Kareem James, Karl Solomon and Wesley Robinson and under coach Elbert McLean always play a high tempo game with clever build ups from quick inter-passing and movement. Elite keeper Derek Rivers is having a great season and he will be kept busy by the marauding Bodden Town kids. Digicel Cup games in recent years have been incredibly exciting and open and this one should be no different. Minister of Sports Mark Scotland is president of Bodden Town so although a cabinet minister who should be impartial on such an occasion, allowances can be made for any partisan leanings.
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